Evenings at Acton University 2025

Matt grew up in the county outskirts in South Alabama at Rt. 1, Lot 1 on a two-track sand road, starting life in a 600 sq ft abandoned farmhouse that his dad worked board-by-board to rebuild. 

Since he was a child, he’s loved escaping into the unknown of adventure, challenge, and possibility. His life has not been without significant hardship, but he is uncommonly resilient. Matt believes in possibility, in overcoming, and is a master in the art and science of never giving up. 

After being kicked out of public school at 12 as a delinquent, Matt graduated high school and received undergraduate and master’s degrees in Theology and Missions with honors. He is a prolific reader, a powerful generalist, and an independent thinker. 

At 25, he moved to Togo, West Africa, and began fabricating drilling equipment from local resources to drill wells and install water pumps by launching local businesses. The fact that 100 feet of soil and rock separated people from life and death was, in Matt’s heart, an obstacle worth overcoming. Faced with the deathly consequences of the water crisis there, he partnered with local individuals to build equipment, drill wells, and install pumps to eradicate the water crisis at a village-to-village level--scaling to 100 wells and five local businesses in its 2nd year. 

In 2011, Matt was hospitalized and confined to a bed and wheelchair due to constant battering of waterborne illness and malaria from living in villages. He overcame the extreme medical challenges that resulted from the subsequent autoimmune meltdown and 6 months of being combined to a bed and wheelchair. He lost 117lbs, eventually becoming an ultramarathoner and Ironman 140.6 finisher, completing the latter two months after being hit by a 50mph SUV while cycling. 

Focused on his faith, family, health, community, and personal growth, Matt lives in many tensions that he believes can propel one towards personal freedom and joy when kept in balance with intention. He’s passionate about leading others toward God and their own freedom, releasing the potential within us all.

Brooks is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 13 books, including Build the Life You Want in 2023, co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, and From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life.

Brooks is one of the world’s leading experts on the science of human happiness, appearing in the media and traveling the world to teach people in private companies, universities, public agencies, and faith communities how they can live happier lives and bring greater well-being to others.

The work supported by the Foundation crosses disciplinary, religious, and geographical boundaries across a range of subjects in the sciences, philosophy, and theology, from gratitude and hope to the psychology of purpose and positive neuroscience. One of the main programs of the Foundation is the Templeton Prize, valued at $1.3 million. It is one of the world’s largest annual individual awards to honor individuals whose exemplary achievements advance her grandfather’s philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest questions of the universe and humankind’s place and purpose within it.

Dill has spoken at various venues on living in a pluralistic world, on the research-supported benefits of a life of purpose, as well as the importance of intellectual humility. In 2020, she received the Citizen Diplomat of the Year Award, from Citizen Diplomacy International Philadelphia, jointly with Jennifer Templeton Simpson, and she was selected by Main Line Today magazine for its 2019 Women on the Move issue. In 2022, she was named #6 on the Pennsylvania Nonprofit Power 100 from City & State Pennsylvania. She was featured on the cover of the donor-focused philanthropic magazine Lifestyles in a major profile for its spring 2023 issue. She is a member of the Generosity Commission and has served on the board of the Philanthropy Roundtable.

She served as a trustee of the John Templeton Foundation from 1997-2003 and 2009-2015 and has been a member of the Foundation’s executive, finance, and strategic planning committees. Dill previously served on the Templeton Religion Trust steering committee and the Templeton World Charity Foundation board and is currently a member of the board of First Trust Bank Limited.

She holds a master’s degree in American history from Villanova University and is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. in history and a concentration in public policy.

Mr. Hanna has been involved in education for the last 37 years. He has been instrumental in the foundation of thirteen new educational institutions, from preschool through post-secondary. He served as Chair of a Commission on Education Excellence under President George W. Bush.

He has been a frequent speaker to various groups and mass media regarding macroeconomics, education, and philanthropy. He is the author of two best-selling books: What Your Money Means, and A Graduate’s Guide to Life.

He currently serves on and advises the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations, both within the Catholic Church, and in the secular world, including EWTN, the Acton Institute, and the American Enterprise Institute.

Mr. Hanna is the founder of the Solidarity Association. Of most significance, the Solidarity Association serves as Trustee of the Mater Verbi/Hanna Papyrus Trust, which safeguards in the Vatican Apostolic Library the oldest copy of the Gospel of Luke (and the oldest copy of the Lord’s Prayer) in the world.

In recognition of his charitable efforts, Mr. Hanna has received the William B. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership, and the David R. Jones Award for Philanthropic Leadership. He is also a Knight of Malta, of the Holy Sepulchre, and was named a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory by Pope Benedict XVI.